A Pennsylvania woman who confessed to an uncontrollable urge to hurt children pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering her best friend’s newborn son, securing a sentence that legal experts say will likely keep her behind bars for the rest of her life.
Nicole Virzi, 32, a doctoral student at the University of California San Diego, entered a guilty plea to third-degree murder and related charges in an Allegheny County court. She was sentenced to 35 to 80 years in prison, avoiding a potential death penalty that prosecutors had been prepared to pursue.
Virzi had traveled to Pittsburgh to visit her close friend Savannah Roberts and help care for Roberts’ newborn twin boys, Leon and Ari Katz. In June 2024, when Roberts and her partner Ethan Katz rushed baby Ari to the hospital after noticing injuries on his body, they left 6-week-old Leon in Virzi’s care.
Later that night, Virzi called police claiming Leon had fallen from a baby bouncer. The infant was transported to a children’s hospital where he was pronounced dead. Medical examiners determined the injuries were far too severe to result from such a minor fall and ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
Investigators later confirmed that the injuries to Ari that prompted the parents to leave the home had also been inflicted by Virzi. During questioning, she reportedly told investigators she had always felt a compulsion she could not control to harm children.
Roberts described the devastating impact of the crime in a letter to the sentencing judge. She said she no longer recognizes herself and that her self-confidence has been permanently destroyed. She wrote that it took nearly a year before she could use the bathroom alone without her partner standing outside the door while she could see Ari was safe.
Roberts also revealed she has never been able to leave surviving twin Ari alone with a friend and does not know if she ever will.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said the decision to accept a plea was made after ongoing consultation with the family and a careful assessment of community safety. Prosecutors called Virzi’s actions a calculated betrayal of a trusted relationship.
Criminal defense attorney Phil DiLucente told NBC News that while Virzi becomes eligible for parole after serving the full 35-year minimum, it is highly unlikely any parole board would ever grant her release given the premeditated and predatory nature of the crime.